Housing Starts Record a Drop,
But Industrial Production Rises

WASHINGTON -- Industrial production surged 0.9% in March, pushing factories, mines and utilities to their busiest level in two years -- a possible portent of inflationary strains.

At the same time, one sector of the economy -- housing -- showed some signs of cooling off last month. The number of new homes started by builders fell 6.4% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,425,000 units.